So yeah; it's coming out in 12 days. It's a sequel, that seems to ignore the ending of the original, and a new battle system so...yeah. >>;

...in all seriousness I don't know what to say about this game. XD I just finished the original (finally) a few days ago. I'm not too really jazzed about the changes like the new battle system and the Lily system. Not to say they're bad or anything but I'm more concerned if they fixed the problems with dungeon design. XP I've already resigned myself to the fact that the plot is going to be painful; seeing as how the new gen characters have already been openly admitted to being designed as moe-blobs from the word 'go'.

Kinda worried that the humor element will be sub-par since there's really so many 'game industry' jokes you can do. And to finish the nitpicking I'm not a fan of the art style modifications. The 'CD eyes' were kinda nifty looking before; with the current engine they look bad. Less stylized and more like someone forgot to draw in the retinas. XP I'll probably be replacing the mini-CPUs asap since I hate their non-existent outfits.

*sigh* Still gonna try it though...I'm too curious. >.<; Is there any big bright light in this tunnel I haven't heard of yet? XD

I'm about ready to say 'screw it' to JRPGs as a whole. Between my novels and Tabletop RPGs there's more than enough fantasy to keep my imagination happy without even a fraction of this crap the Japanese eat like it was crack-laced chocolate marshmallow frosted sugar bombs.

Oh hey, we are complaining about JRPGs and Japanese stuff again? Cool. Been reading the same stuff for like 3 or 4 years now, have fun. :T *goes back to play FFXIII-2*

Have to agree. Tired of people complaining. If you don't like it, don't play it. I am not a fan of Hyperdimension Neptunia (or similar), but there are plenty of JRPGs that I do love, and not all because they're amazing masteries of the genre. Sometimes you just want to have some fun.

I Bought the Japanese version and played it through, it was kind of fun and i'll probably get the sequel. The original got an English release so the reception can't have been that bad, tks for the news

I'm currently playing the first and I don't feel its quite that bad.... I'm actually enjoying it... but I'm into the totally-over-the-top j-pop type stuff.... with gameplay improvements I would thoroughly love this title.... as such I'm stoked about the second....

I'm starting to think I'm just weird.... the more "bad" JRPGs of this gen I finally get around to giving a shot in spite of all the hate, the more I find I really like em..... I've been playing JRPG's for nearly 20 years now and have really spent quite a number of hours grinding through "epic" games... so short dungeons and lighthearted stories I can pick up and put down a little easier are always welcome to me amidst a sea of games that require me to micro-manage waaaaay more stuff then the games of yester-year...... Nothing will beat some of the golden days of PS1 for me, but none-the-less I feel JRPGs in general are getting way too bad of a wrap recently.

And on that note, I will proudly express I am also enjoying the ever-loathed Atelier Rorona at the moment.... Mind you I'm playing both of these games while I play Xenoblade... and with 118 hours clocked in Xeno, a little hyperdimension or atelier in between makes the last leg of Xenoblade way easier to digest for me.

And on that note, I will proudly express I am also enjoying the ever-loathed Atelier Rorona at the moment

Wait, what? Since when was Atelier Rorona loathed? Sure it's not a perfect game (Totori was a big improvement) and the style isn't for everyone, but loathed?! I thought it was a pretty good game. RPGFan gave it 85%...that doesn't sound like loathing...

I personally don't like Atelier Rorona, but I'm not really a fan of that type of game anyway. A lot of the games that get decried this generation are actually not that bad. I actually liked Ar Tonelico Qoga, even though the fanservice was really annoying, and I like Agarest. Idea Factory's games don't tend to be great, but they aren't absolutely absymal either. At least not lately.

Again I reiterate it's more than just JRPGs. Japan has an entire sub-culture/demographic that needs to 'grow up'. It's more of a collective whole than just the JRPG/Anime crowd and it's been going on for ages. Simple example; implied rape and sexual molestation can be considered 'comedy' in Japan's main airwaves. I can't find a specific clip because Youtube is Youtube but there's a show called Gaki no Tsukai that makes a good example of this(don't worry; this is one of the 'tamer' things).

In their Batsu Game and Kiki sketches they sometimes play the 'comedic routine' of having an old grandma-age woman come out and forcefully french the younger male hosts because it's 'funny'.

As such you really can't be surprised about the things you mention existing when the standards bar is already set so low; at least by Western 'tastes' standards.